Fertility & birth rates in Afghanistan and South Africa

Fertility rate in Afghanistan vs South Africa chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Afghanistan was 4.84 children per woman in 2023, compared to 2.22 in South Africa in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check Afghanistan vs South Africa population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases historical changes in the birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	Afghanistan	South Africa
1960	7.28	6.11
1961	7.28	6.08
1962	7.29	6.05
1963	7.3	6.01
1964	7.3	5.96
1965	7.31	5.89
1966	7.32	5.91
1967	7.34	5.85
1968	7.36	5.78
1969	7.39	5.72
1970	7.4	5.63
1971	7.43	5.57
1972	7.45	5.49
1973	7.49	5.41
1974	7.53	5.3
1975	7.54	5.19
1976	7.56	5.07
1977	7.59	4.94
1978	7.6	4.85
1979	7.61	4.82
1980	7.64	4.78
1981	7.62	4.71
1982	7.6	4.7
1983	7.57	4.63
1984	7.55	4.57
1985	7.55	4.5
1986	7.55	4.41
1987	7.55	4.35
1988	7.55	4.18
1989	7.56	3.98
1990	7.58	3.72
1991	7.63	3.62
1992	7.7	3.48
1993	7.76	3.37
1994	7.77	3.26
1995	7.77	3.17
1996	7.76	2.99
1997	7.73	2.73
1998	7.69	2.63
1999	7.64	2.56
2000	7.57	2.41
2001	7.45	2.37
2002	7.32	2.32
2003	7.17	2.36
2004	7.02	2.44
2005	6.86	2.51
2006	6.69	2.55
2007	6.51	2.55
2008	6.39	2.68
2009	6.3	2.5
2010	6.2	2.44
2011	6.09	2.44
2012	5.99	2.45
2013	5.88	2.43
2014	5.77	2.42
2015	5.65	2.36
2016	5.54	2.26
2017	5.43	2.28
2018	5.33	2.27
2019	5.24	2.26
2020	5.15	2.26
2021	5.04	2.25
2022	4.93	2.23
2023	4.84	2.22
2024	4.76	2.21
2025	4.66	2.19
2026	4.56	2.17
2027	4.48	2.15
2028	4.4	2.13
2029	4.3	2.12
2030	4.22	2.1
2031	4.15	2.09
2032	4.07	2.07
2033	4	2.06
2034	3.95	2.05
2035	3.89	2.04
2036	3.82	2.03
2037	3.76	2.02
2038	3.68	2
2039	3.61	1.99
2040	3.56	1.98
2041	3.49	1.98
2042	3.44	1.97
2043	3.39	1.96
2044	3.34	1.95
2045	3.3	1.94
2046	3.26	1.93
2047	3.22	1.92
2048	3.18	1.91
2049	3.14	1.9
2050	3.09	1.89

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Afghanistan	South Africa
1960	41.9%	42.1%
1961	42%	42.1%
1962	42.1%	42.1%
1963	42.2%	42.1%
1964	42.4%	42.1%
1965	42.6%	42.1%
1966	42.9%	42.1%
1967	43.2%	42.2%
1968	43.4%	42.2%
1969	43.7%	42.2%
1970	43.9%	42.3%
1971	44.2%	42.2%
1972	44.4%	42.2%
1973	44.6%	42.1%
1974	44.8%	42%
1975	45%	41.9%
1976	45.2%	41.8%
1977	45.4%	41.7%
1978	45.6%	41.5%
1979	45.8%	41.3%
1980	46.1%	40.9%
1981	46.3%	40.5%
1982	46.5%	40.1%
1983	46.6%	39.8%
1984	46.8%	39.5%
1985	47%	39.2%
1986	47.2%	38.9%
1987	47.3%	38.7%
1988	47.4%	38.4%
1989	47.5%	38.1%
1990	47.7%	37.7%
1991	47.8%	37.5%
1992	48%	37.6%
1993	48.2%	37.3%
1994	48.5%	37.2%
1995	48.7%	37.5%
1996	49%	37.5%
1997	49.3%	37.2%
1998	49.6%	36.5%
1999	49.8%	35.7%
2000	50%	34.9%
2001	50.2%	34%
2002	50.2%	33.2%
2003	50.2%	32.3%
2004	50.2%	31.6%
2005	50%	31.1%
2006	49.9%	30.6%
2007	49.6%	30.2%
2008	49.3%	29.9%
2009	48.9%	29.7%
2010	48.5%	29.4%
2011	48%	29.1%
2012	47.6%	28.9%
2013	47.2%	28.7%
2014	46.7%	28.5%
2015	46.3%	28.3%
2016	45.8%	28.3%
2017	45.4%	28.3%
2018	45%	27.9%
2019	44.6%	27.4%
2020	44.2%	27%
2021	43.9%	26.6%
2022	43.6%	26.3%
2023	43.2%	26.1%
2024	42.9%	25.9%
2025	42.6%	25.7%
2026	42.2%	25.6%
2027	41.9%	25.4%
2028	41.5%	25.3%
2029	41.1%	25.2%
2030	40.7%	25.2%
2031	40.3%	25.1%
2032	39.8%	25%
2033	39.4%	24.8%
2034	39%	24.5%
2035	38.6%	24.3%
2036	38.2%	23.9%
2037	37.8%	23.6%
2038	37.4%	23.4%
2039	36.9%	23.1%
2040	36.5%	22.9%
2041	36%	22.7%
2042	35.6%	22.5%
2043	35.2%	22.4%
2044	34.8%	22.2%
2045	34.4%	22.1%
2046	34%	21.9%
2047	33.6%	21.8%
2048	33.3%	21.7%
2049	32.9%	21.6%
2050	32.5%	21.5%

Children aged 0-14 make up 42.9% of the population in Afghanistan and 25.9% in South Africa in 2024, compared to 47.7% and 37.7% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Afghanistan and South Africa compared.

Natural population change in Afghanistan vs South Africa by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +3.04% in Afghanistan and +1.05% in South Africa. The chart below illustrates the comparison of the absolute yearly changes resulting from births and deaths.

Table

Year	Population change due to births and deaths
	Afghanistan	South Africa
1960	170,257	421,263
1961	179,094	437,851
1962	188,427	455,634
1963	198,035	473,821
1964	207,867	490,606
1965	217,741	506,632
1966	228,786	534,862
1967	239,967	553,741
1968	251,798	571,841
1969	263,823	590,794
1970	275,129	605,102
1971	288,267	624,761
1972	300,633	638,754
1973	315,062	651,596
1974	330,232	658,438
1975	343,850	667,862
1976	357,775	675,011
1977	372,567	680,929
1978	369,101	694,341
1979	361,750	716,541
1980	365,396	738,415
1981	343,468	767,833
1982	263,210	807,550
1983	263,778	837,013
1984	205,262	869,011
1985	228,469	893,889
1986	310,066	903,644
1987	314,361	922,330
1988	358,397	909,221
1989	381,158	884,629
1990	402,433	835,421
1991	409,954	827,296
1992	440,132	794,415
1993	541,257	789,220
1994	609,096	698,609
1995	653,280	743,488
1996	685,005	710,868
1997	709,778	667,969
1998	719,860	627,027
1999	760,727	594,643
2000	782,727	526,963
2001	764,090	484,801
2002	776,048	430,926
2003	826,165	415,018
2004	850,940	442,540
2005	855,112	464,464
2006	875,301	487,584
2007	889,848	503,567
2008	891,246	595,332
2009	920,581	554,115
2010	943,473	566,834
2011	966,743	601,708
2012	1,004,814	643,723
2013	1,033,778	652,427
2014	1,053,788	674,754
2015	1,077,068	668,771
2016	1,090,016	641,365
2017	1,101,218	645,975
2018	1,115,262	648,319
2019	1,138,485	652,130
2020	1,134,407	595,873
2021	1,133,611	456,411
2022	1,219,475	603,636
2023	1,228,719	602,793

Maternal mortality chart: Afghanistan vs South Africa

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 521 deaths per 100,000 live births in Afghanistan, compared to 118 deaths in South Africa.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Afghanistan	South Africa
1985	2,232	208
1986	1,857	200
1987	1,821	192
1988	1,572	184
1989	1,520	177
1990	1,550	170
1991	1,534	162
1992	1,443	152
1993	1,347	145
1994	1,396	133
1995	1,414	125
1996	1,389	150
1997	1,376	152
1998	1,464	152
1999	1,346	151
2000	1,372	175
2001	1,311	192
2002	1,263	225
2003	1,201	245
2004	1,166	259
2005	1,108	279
2006	1,069	283
2007	1,032	272
2008	955	272
2009	925	241
2010	893	226
2011	838	202
2012	810	194
2013	778	180
2014	755	162
2015	741	150
2016	702	141
2017	659	134
2018	629	128
2019	601	119
2020	634	118
2021	660	191
2022	551	129
2023	521	118

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 5.55% in Afghanistan and 3.47% in South Africa. Below is the historical data on under-five mortality rates.

Table

Year	Mortality rate before reaching 5 years of age, per 1,000 live births
	Afghanistan	South Africa
1960	35.3%	-
1961	34.8%	-
1962	34.2%	-
1963	33.7%	-
1964	33.2%	-
1965	32.7%	-
1966	32.2%	-
1967	31.7%	-
1968	31.2%	-
1969	30.6%	-
1970	30.2%	-
1971	29.7%	-
1972	29.1%	-
1973	28.6%	-
1974	28.1%	13.2%
1975	27.5%	12.5%
1976	27%	11.8%
1977	26.4%	11.1%
1978	25.8%	10.5%
1979	25.2%	9.88%
1980	24.6%	9.35%
1981	23.9%	8.84%
1982	28%	8.39%
1983	27.4%	7.98%
1984	30.9%	7.6%
1985	30.1%	7.24%
1986	25.3%	6.89%
1987	24.7%	6.56%
1988	21.8%	6.26%
1989	18.7%	6.01%
1990	18.1%	5.82%
1991	17.4%	5.7%
1992	16.9%	5.66%
1993	16.3%	5.7%
1994	15.8%	5.82%
1995	15.3%	5.95%
1996	14.8%	6.11%
1997	14.4%	6.29%
1998	14%	6.56%
1999	13.6%	6.85%
2000	13.2%	7.11%
2001	12.7%	7.43%
2002	12.3%	7.69%
2003	11.9%	7.93%
2004	11.4%	8.1%
2005	11%	8.03%
2006	10.5%	7.75%
2007	10.1%	7.19%
2008	9.63%	6.42%
2009	9.22%	5.7%
2010	8.83%	5%
2011	8.46%	4.5%
2012	8.12%	4.25%
2013	7.8%	4.1%
2014	7.51%	3.96%
2015	7.24%	3.82%
2016	7%	3.68%
2017	6.76%	3.58%
2018	6.54%	3.49%
2019	6.33%	3.45%
2020	6.13%	3.41%
2021	5.93%	3.41%
2022	5.74%	3.44%
2023	5.55%	3.47%